


In Stitches

by Misaya



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Falling In Love, Light-Hearted, M/M, Suits, Tailoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 16:02:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5671876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misaya/pseuds/Misaya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi is searching for an inexpensive tailor to make him a suit for his mother's upcoming wedding, and Smith's Tailoring Services seems to be just the ticket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Stitches

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PollySix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PollySix/gifts).



> Commission from Pollysix.tumblr.com, thank you so much~

The bells over the shop door jingled merrily as Levi pushed the heavy glass panel inwards. The frosted glass was inscribed with ornate cursive, Smith’s Tailoring Services, and Levi could only wing a prayer to whatever deities were listening that the small shop on the corner of Geary and Van Ness lived up to its Yelp reviews.

It had caught his eye on the fourth loaded page of the app when he’d selected the Sewing and Alterations tab. With a solid amount of good reviews (14), the relative distance from his small pint-sized apartment (1.3 miles, a good brisk walk because Levi was horrified by the absurd amount everything in this godforsaken city cost), and the price (one dollar sign), it had seemed the perfect place. Levi needed a new suit for his mother’s upcoming wedding to a man whose name Levi could never remember, but he was currently between jobs, and the insanely high rent in San Francisco was eating through his savings at an alarming rate.

But he still did want to look nice for Kuchel’s wedding. It was expected, after all, and he was genuinely happy for her.

The shop was dark inside, and though it was also a gloomy and overcast day, Levi still had to squint to adjust. Despite the handwritten sign stuck in the front window that the tailor’s was open, there didn’t appear to be anyone inside, and with a sigh, Levi made to leave again. His hand was already jammed inside the pocket of his coat, thumbing at the fingerprint sensor on his phone’s home button so that he could open Yelp again and search for another tailoring service that would suit his needs.

He was about to pull open the door again when a voice called out from the back room. “I’ll be there in just a minute!” The sound was garbled, as though the speaker was talking through a mouthful of food, and Levi turned expectantly back to the shadow of the front counter that he could just make out through the murk and gloam. After a few moments during which he gnawed on his lower lip and wondered if possibly this was all just an elaborate setup for some sort of seedy establishment, a man came hurrying out of the back room, his blonde hair gleaming a sort of dark gold and his white shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“How can I help you?” he asked Levi, beaming brightly and seeming not to notice how dark his shop was. Levi approached the counter, still wary, his footsteps creaking over the gnarled wood floor and his thumb on speed dial to the police. Just in case. One could never be too careful, and Levi was still in that jaded period of someone who’d just recently moved to a big city from the suburbs, and thought that gangs lurked around every corner and people were just looking for every opportunity to shaft the unsuspecting.

But surely someone that looked as hearty and wholesome as this man wouldn’t do that to him, right? He looked like he was someone fed on milk and honey, straight from the cornfields of the Midwest, and all in all looked like he’d never spoken a falsehood in his life.

“I’m looking to buy a suit,” Levi said. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found shapes swimming up out of the gloom: the torsos of mannequins with sharply pressed coats hanging off the shoulders, the circles of hat boxes lining the shelves on the walls, the shiny silver lines of pins that lay scattered on the counter. Levi pulled his hands away from the counter gingerly, not wanting to get pricked. “I’d need it in about two months, so it’s not a rush job or anything.” Though, judging by the poor lighting and slightly musty odor in the store, the proprietor didn’t have many customers. It made him wonder how he stayed in business, how he managed to pay the rent.

“Oh? Is that right?” The man held a hand out across the counter. Levi took it, pleased to see that his tailor of choice had a firm handshake, something that his mother had told him was the one of the traits of a good man. “It’ll be a pleasure to do business with you. My name is Erwin Smith, and I’ll be helping you put together your suit for your upcoming occasion.”

“I’m Levi,” Levi replied, with a faint smile. He was still suspicious. “And the occasion in question is my mother’s upcoming wedding.”

“Oh, congratulations to your mother!” Erwin said, grinning even wider, if that was possible. He had crows’ feet painting wrinkles in the thin skin around his eyes and laugh lines bracketing his mouth, and if Levi squinted a bit, he could make out the gleam of silver brushed at Erwin’s temples. This, more than anything else Erwin had done in their short time together, endeared him to Levi and settled his uneasy concerns. “Will you be needing the full suit, then? Jacket and slacks? You’d have to get your shirt, tie and shoes from another place, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Levi agreed. “Jacket and slacks will be perfect.” He fumbled in his back pocket for his wallet, pulling out the battered leather and pulling open the billfold, which was depressingly thin and nearly empty. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he wondered how to tell Erwin that he was strapped for cash, but Erwin was already waving his wallet away.

“Don’t worry about that,” Erwin was saying, already moving away from the counter to the vague outline of a door. “We can work out a payment schedule later. Follow me, if you would.”

Levi followed Erwin through the door, only throwing a few glances back over his shoulder. No passersby were peering in through the shaded windows, and a vague thrill of unease raced up Levi’s spine. Erwin popped his head back out from behind the doorjamb. “Are you coming?” he asked, smiling pleasantly, and Levi fought his urge to swoon. Erwin was undeniably attractive, in that sort of sharp, distinguished way Levi admired, with the air of someone accustomed to moving about the world with confidence. It set his nerves steady again, only aided by the fact that the room beyond was lit up with a soft rosy glow from several fluorescent lamps scattered about the room. It painted the sharp contours of Erwin’s face with a gentle gold, and Levi tried to shake away the rampant blush that was threatening to spill across his face as Erwin led him to a large velvet-covered stool in front of a trifold mirror and motioned for him to climb on.

“I’m just going to grab one of the sample sets from the back really quick,” Erwin informed him, scanning him from head to toe while Levi tried not to stare too hard at Erwin’s reflection. “You look like you’re about a 28, 30 waist maybe? Small build.”

“Right,” Levi murmured, through dry, chapped lips. “30 waist.” He looked even smaller in comparison to Erwin, who still stood taller than Levi even with the added height given to him from the stool. “I’m 5’3”,” he added, belatedly, as Erwin had already darted over to the other side of the room, where rows of jackets in varying sizes and shades of deep blues and blacks hung straight-shouldered on wooden rods. Levi watched in the mirror as Erwin pulled jackets out and looked at them, measuring them against his mental vision of Levi.

“Here, why don’t you try this one on?” Erwin asked, returning to Levi’s side with an armful of dark jackets. Levi plucked one from the pile, the fabric smooth and satiny between his fingertips as he shrugged himself into it. It hung a bit too large around the waist, and his shoulders were swimming in the fabric.

He’d always had the same problem trying to buy ready-made suits, and clothes off the rack in general. They’d always be a bit too big, the sleeves or the waists just a bit too long so they draped over the tops of his fingers. A child playing dress-up in his father’s clothes.

“It’s a bit…big,” he finished, lamely. Erwin was already squinting at him, pinching the excess satiny fabric between his fingers at the shoulders, at the waist.

“That’s alright,” Erwin murmured, helping Levi out of the suit jacket. “I’m just trying to get a sense of how the fabric hangs on you, what looks best with your skin tone, stuff like that. The alterations for the size can come later. Did you like this one?” He held up the jacket Levi had just tried on.

“Honestly? Not too much,” Levi murmured. “It seems really glossy. Seems really hard to get stains out of, and I want this to last a long time.”

“Right.” Erwin expertly slotted the jacket back onto its wooden hanger and hooked it onto a rolling metal rod to the left of the mirror. “What about this one, then?”

Levi spent what felt like ages slipping in and out of coats, in all fabrics and all colors, from white seersucker that made him look malnourished to black linen that he frankly stated made him look like a particular celibate member of the clergy. Erwin laughed at this last remark, a deep, throaty sound that had Levi scrambling for jokes, for witty retorts that would allow him to hear it again. His arms began to ache, holding them out straight to the side while Erwin measured the sleeves against his arms with a bright yellow tape, and the metal rod grew packed with the discarded jackets. 

“I hate to say this,” Levi said faintly, after what felt like the thirty-sixth jacket, “but are we almost done?”

“Of course,” Erwin agreed, holding out yet another jacket for Levi to try, a smile twinkling at the corners of his eyes. This one was a charcoal grey color, and though the shoulders were a perfect fit, the rest of the jacket flapped limply around Levi’s waist like wings. “Sorry. It’s just your mother’s wedding is surely a momentous occasion, and I’d be proud knowing that I got you there looking your absolute best. This color isn’t so bad on you, though it would be better to nip in the waist a bit.” Erwin gathered the excess fabric in his hands, tugging it gently back so that it pressed tighter around the outline of Levi’s body. “Something like this, perhaps?”

Levi eyed himself critically in the mirror. Thrown over wrinkled white dress shirt that he’d worn searching through the city for jobs, the suit jacket seemed the pinnacle of elegance, and he informed Erwin as such. Erwin looked pleased, and hooked the rest of the discarded jackets on the rack.

“Why don’t you come back, say, next Friday afternoon? I should have the preliminary adjustments done by then, and the rest of the fittings will just be for fine tuning.” Erwin was busy scribbling down some figures in a little notepad he’d pulled out from his back pocket, sticking the stub of pencil behind his ear once he was finished and looking at Levi with an expectant smile. Levi hastened to reply.

“Of course. Next Friday would be perfect,” Levi said, and he carried the memory of Erwin’s bright smile with him as he slipped out of the shop and began the long trudge home through the darkening streets.

* * *

 

The nine days passed all too slowly, and Levi filled his days alternately with long hours spent reading old books, slouching about his cracker box of an apartment writing and rewriting his CV, and desperately doing anything to stop thinking about Erwin. He’d even considered picking up yoga or tai chi in the park, something repetitive, something soothing, something mindless, because it was utterly absurd that he’d spent a month and a half in San Francisco and the only meaningful connection he’d seemed to have made was with his tailor.

That, and he also needed a way to keep his anxiety levels at bay. Though Levi had sent out countless job applications, both in person and over the Internet, he hadn’t yet had any calls back or offers for interviews. He’d wake up throughout the night, furiously swiping through his email, running through the spam and trash folders as well, just in case an offer had come in while he’d been asleep and had been mistakenly redirected. The folders were fruitless, and with every hour that went by without the prospect of a regular salary on the horizon, Levi became more and more high strung.

Even Erwin noticed, tutting as he helped Levi into the newly altered jacket and frowning at their reflections in the mirror. “You’re rather tense here, in the shoulders,” he murmured, and Levi tried not to think about how warm his fingers felt through the cloth. “Try and relax a bit, if you don’t mind.”

Levi relaxed an infinitesimal amount. Erwin repeated his request, not unkindly. After the third or so repetition of the exchange, Erwin folded his arms over his chest, looking positively distressed. “If you don’t mind my intrusion, but what’s gotten you so worked up? You’re incredibly tense.”

Levi swallowed. Where to begin? There was his fear about not being able to get a job, in combination with the inherent loneliness and homesickness that came with suddenly moving to a big city for the first time. Levi felt alone in a crowded room; the other residents of the city came and went in droves, brushing shoulders with him on sidewalks and subways, yet he was well aware that he didn’t even register on their radars. It was all quite a change from what he was used to, and before he knew what he was doing, he was telling Erwin all about how upset he’d been ever since moving to San Francisco.

To his credit, Erwin didn’t say anything untoward or disparaging, and just raised an eyebrow, inviting Levi to continue. He had stopped fiddling with how the fabric fell around Levi’s shoulders, giving Levi license to blather on some more about how miserable he was.

“Well,” Erwin said finally, after Levi paused for breath, not daring to catch Erwin’s eye in the mirror, afraid of what he might see there, “perhaps you just haven’t found the right crowd to hang out with yet, don’t know the right places to go, stuff like that.”

“Probably,” Levi agreed, eyes still downcast. “I thought it would all be really different, you know? I thought I’d be really excited to get to the big city, to find myself or whatever that means.”

Erwin smiled warmly, settling his hands on Levi’s shoulders. The firm, gentle strength of his grip had an unwarranted blush welling up to paint Levi’s cheeks rosy, and Levi could only pray that the fluorescent glow of the lamps scattered about the fitting room could disguise it.

“That’s what lots of people say,” Erwin murmured, tugging lightly at the collar, his words dusting over the back of Levi’s neck and settling in the sensitive shaved skin of his undercut. “I mean, I grew up here, lived here my whole life, so I guess I’ve had a long time to get accustomed to the sights and sounds. It’s really a charming city, once you get used to it, though yeah, it can be a bit lonely at times. Take a look at that, huh?”

Levi looked up at his reflection, and was surprised to find that the man staring back at him looked elegant, poised, the jacket trimmed in neatly around his waist and clinging delicately to his shoulders. He looked grown-up, in a way that he hadn’t looked since his college graduation what felt like centuries ago.

“It’s nice,” he admitted, reaching down to do up the button and admiring the way the jacket hung on him. “The sleeve holes are a bit big still, though.” He flapped the sleeves for Erwin’s inspection; they billowed like wings around his wrists, and Erwin made a note of that, pulling the omnipresent pencil stub from behind his ear and making a mark on a crumpled piece of paper he’d tugged out of a pocket of his slacks.

“Right. Can’t have baggy sleeves,” Erwin agreed. “I’ll have that fixed for next time. Why don’t we start on the slacks now, what do you say?”

Levi agreed, and tried not to make a spectacle of himself as Erwin crouched down so his eyes were level with Levi’s hips, stretching the measuring tape out as he measured the length of Levi’s legs and took note of it on a crumpled paper he pulled out of the pocket of his slacks. He wrapped the tape tight around Levi’s waist, and wrote that figure down as well, seemingly unaware of the way Levi’s face had flushed almost scarlet at Erwin’s proximity.

This was ridiculous. He had to get a hold of himself, this really wouldn’t do. But Levi was lonely, with long hours ahead to fill with nothingness, and he couldn’t help but think what it would be like to have Erwin be his plus one at Kuchel’s wedding. He’d probably be dressed all prim and proper, in the nice slate waistcoat Levi had spied buttoned around the torso of a mannequin in the front of the shop.

As with the jacket, Erwin brought over stacks of neatly folded and pressed sample pants for Levi to try, and turned his back while Levi stepped out of his jeans and into the legs of the slacks. All of them were far too long, some a bit too itchy, and Levi was all too aware of Erwin’s hands tugging out the creases and folds around his legs.

The matching charcoal slacks from the stack Erwin had brought over would need to be hemmed and tucked in a bit tighter around the waist, but Erwin assured him it was a quick job, and he’d have it done by next Wednesday. As Levi was pulling out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans to pay Erwin for his time, Erwin waved it away yet again.

“You mentioned you hadn’t had any luck finding a job around here,” Erwin said, smiling gently as he folded Levi’s wallet closed. “Why don’t you pay me back when you’ve gotten yourself settled with a regular income?”

Levi agreed, promising to pay Erwin in back in full with his very first paycheck.

* * *

 

The third fitting, only three business days after the second, wasn’t much of one. As far as Levi was concerned, the jacket and slacks Erwin had altered for him were perfect, flattering his form delicately and subtly. The charcoal grey hue complemented his complexion, and the edges of the sleeves draped neatly around his wrists instead of flapping around. The hems of the slacks had been taken in until they were the perfect length, just whispering against the tops of his trainers, and if Erwin’s smile was anything to go by, he was quite the dashing sight.

“Look at you, all smart and spiffy,” Erwin said with a proud smile that Levi felt sure was directed to him as well as towards his handiwork. “You were born to wear suits, Levi.”

It was the first time Erwin had said his name, and it sent a tingle up and down Levi’s spine, something that felt dangerously like attraction, completely and utterly different from the rampant lust he’d had to curb down while Erwin was wrapping and pressing the measuring tape against different parts of his body. That had felt clinical to a fault, just someone doing his job, but this felt genuine. Caring. Kind.

He was surprised to find that he felt almost saddened by the thought that this was their last fitting, his last justification for coming to see Erwin. Of course, he would have to drop off the payment eventually, but that would be a quick transaction. Sterile. The exchanging of money from one hand to another, and then Erwin would be gone from his life forever.

But desperate times called for desperate measures, and grasping at straws, Levi asked, “Can I take you out for a quick coffee? As a preliminary thanks for the clothes.”

“Oh.” Erwin looked pleasantly surprised, his thick eyebrows drawn into a neat arch. “Sure, I would love that.” His lips tilted up in a smile, and Levi found himself transfixed by the sight of Erwin’s mouth, lush and rosy, wondering what it might be like to have Erwin’s arms wrapped around him in something other than professional interest.

He knew exactly what it would feel like, like a soft, fleecy blanket that smelled of sandalwood and vanilla with hints of citrus, wrapped around him and warming him to the core. It would be comforting, gentle and secure, and Levi longed for it even as he watched Erwin flip the shop sign to Closed and lock up the door.

* * *

“So, how’s the job hunt going?” Erwin asked as they sat down with their cappuccinos at a local café a few blocks down from the tailor’s. “Any luck?”

“None,” Levi replied, trying and failing not to mope. “Either people aren’t hiring or I’m overqualified or they already gave the position to someone younger and prettier. You know how it goes.”

“What a shame,” Erwin murmured. He had a little mustache of foam cresting his upper lip, and Levi had to restrain himself from reaching across the table to wipe it off with a napkin. Erwin’s eyebrows knit together, deep in thought, before he refocused his gaze on Levi with a bright smile. “I’ve an idea!” he announced grandly. “I’ve been meaning to hire an assistant for a while now, someone to handle the books and the finances of the shop. As long as you’ve got something of a head for numbers, I think the job would suit you just fine. Flexible hours, relatively decent pay, and you’d be a welcome addition to the shop.”

“Really?” Levi asked, his eyes bright and hopeful at the prospect of receiving a regular salary.

“Really,” Erwin replied, smiling kindly down. It was all Levi could do not to fling himself across the table and plant a kiss squarely on Erwin’s mouth. He settled the check and they walked jauntily back towards the shop.

* * *

 

The small crush Levi had blossomed into a full-blown love affair, and his world was tinted rosy with happiness in a way that it hadn’t been since he’d moved to the city. He would shoot Erwin glances across the gloomy front half of the shop (Erwin insisted he was just trying to be ecofriendly, but Levi was convinced the bulbs had blown out roughly three years ago), and Erwin would return them with a smile or two of his own. Their professional relationship gradually morphed into them having lunch together in the fitting room, the fluorescent lights painting the planes of their cheekbones with gold; this, in turn, led to them grabbing drinks or coffee after they’d closed up shop, which led to late-night talks and dinners and movies. The transition between friends to coworkers to people who were all but dating was so seamless Levi could hardly believe it, but as there was no verbal confirmation as to what exactly the status of their relationship together was as of yet, he plucked up all his courage and made to ask.

“So,” he mumbled one bright, sunny day in the middle of March, “as you know, my mother’s wedding is coming up, and I’ll be needing to take that weekend off.”

“Oh, of course, of course,” Erwin agreed, smiling up at Levi over their takeout curry in the fitting room.

“And…” Levi hedged his words, wondering what would sound the best. There was no real good way to ask this. “I was wondering if you’d like to come with me.” The words couldn’t get out fast enough, and once they were between them, Levi ached to snatch them back, stuff them greedily back into his mouth.

“As your plus one?” Erwin asked, a twinkle in his eye.

“Yes,” Levi muttered, a heavy blush dusting his face. “Sorry for being so forward, it’s just that I thought maybe you –“

Erwin silenced him with a finger laid gently over Levi’s lips. “I can assure you, the feeling is mutual,” he said, smiling pleasantly, joyfully, the creases at the corners of his eyes deepening with pleasure. “I would be utterly delighted to be your plus one, if your mother will have me.”

“She’d be delighted,” Levi stammered out, once he’d gotten over the utter shock of having his feelings reciprocated. He laughed, once, twice, giddy with abject joy. Braver now, he added, “Do you think maybe you could wear the slate waistcoat? The one in the front of the store?”

Erwin grinned, reaching across the table to wipe a smear of curry from the side of Levi’s mouth with a napkin. “I think that could be arranged.”

Their first kiss tasted like curry and mango lassi, and Levi pricked his palms on some scattered pins as he leaned across the table, but he was sure he'd never been happier. 


End file.
